Publications & Presentations

Equity Research

School-wide systems for multilingual learner success: A roadmap for leaders

Lisa Auslander and Joanna Yip

This book provides a roadmap for designing school environments that address the needs of English learners (ELs). Offering a wealth of resources to support school leaders working with multilingual students, Auslander and Yip explain how a systems thinking approach enables the development of stronger school-wide multi-tiered systems of support and can lead to meaningful, context-specific solutions that set up ELs for success. With vignettes, case studies, and tools for readers in each chapter, the book not only identifies what effective practices look like but also outlines methods to help effectively implement culturally and linguistically responsive teaching.

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Humanizing Education for Immigrant and Refugee Youth

This important book offers strategies, models, and concrete ideas for better serving newcomer immigrant and refugee youth in U.S. schools, with a focus on grades 6–12. The authors present 20 strategies grouped under three categories: (1) classroom and instructional design, (2) school design, and (3) extracurricular, community, and alumni partnerships. Each chapter provides research-based information, classroom examples, tips for implementing each strategy, and additional resources. Readers will find engaging profiles of schools, students, and alumni interspersed throughout the book, offering both varied perspectives and practical advice. Humanizing Education for Immigrant and Refugee Youth will assist today’s educators, school leaders, policymakers, and scholars interested in the holistic success and well-being of immigrant and refugee students.

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Creating Responsive Classroom Communities: A Cross-Case Study of Schools Serving Students with Interrupted Schooling

Lisa Auslander

Discover how educators, counselors and students in a study of 4 high schools across New York State are developing classrooms and schools that are culturally and linguistically responsive to the needs of diverse newcomer students with interrupted schooling.

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Research Highlights

Cultivating a Culture of Bilingualism: Evaluating a Home Language Arts Curriculum for SIFE

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Our Obligations as Educators in a Democracy: Transforming the NNER into an Activist Organization

Michelli, N., Jacobowitz, T., Greenblatt, S., Campo, S., Watson, A., & Auslander, L

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Building Bridges: New Journal Article in NNER

Lisa Auslander, Maggie Beiting-Parrish

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Recent Presentations

Scholarly Publications

Auslander, L., & Yip, J. (2022). School-wide systems for multilingual learner success: A roadmap for leaders (1st Ed.). Routledge.

Auslander, L. (2022). Getting newcomer English learners off the sidelines: Strategies for increasing learner engagement while developing language and literacy. TESOL Journal, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.647

Auslander, L., & Beiting-Parrish, M. (2021). Cultivating a culture of bilingualism: Evaluating a home language arts curriculum for SIFE. Languages, 6(4),170. pdf

Michelli, N., Jacobowitz, T., Greenblatt, S., Campo, S., Watson, A., & Auslander, L. (2018). Our Obligations as Educators in a Democracy: Transforming the NNER into an Activist Organization. In A Journal of the National Network for Educational Renewal, 10, 99-114. pdf

Auslander, L. & Beiting-Parrish, M. (2018). Building Bridges: Making Literacy and Democracy Accessible in a Curriculum for Students with Interrupted Formal Education. In A Journal of the National Network for Educational Renewal, 10, 69-82. pdf

Curinga, R. &  Garrison-Fletcher, L. (2015). The importance of first language reading skills in English reading comprehension for adolescent newcomers.  Proceedings of the 9th Symposium of Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition (LESLLA), San Francisco, CA.

Curinga, R. & Heidrick, I. (in press). Supporting low literacy SIFE in New York high schools: An instructional approach to developing language and literacy across the curriculum. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium of Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition (LESLLA), St. Augustine, FL.

Klein, E.C. & Martohardjono, G. (2015). English language learners with low native language literacy: A profile and an intervention in NYC. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium of Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition (LESLLA), San Francisco, CA. pdf

Klein, E. C. & Martohardjono, G. (2009). Understanding the student with interrupted formal education (SIFE) Phase II: A study of SIFE skills, needs and achievement. Report to the New York City Department of Education, Office of English Language Learners.

Klein, E. C. &  Martohardjono, G. (2006). Students with interrupted formal education: A study of SIFE skills and needs. Report to the NYC Department of Education, Office of English Language Learners.

Book Chapters

Auslander, L., & Walsh, D. (2022). Strategy 5: Support Students with Limited and Interrupted Formal Education. In Humanizing Education for Immigrant and Refugee Youth: 20 Strategies for the Classroom and Beyond (submitted for publication).

Martohardjono, G. & Klein, E. (2016). Second language acquisition in children and adults. In E. Fernandez & H. Cairns (Eds.). Handbook of psycholinguistics, Chap 37, Wiley/Blackwell.

McNamara, S. & Smith, A. (2015). What do teachers need to understand about the challenges that the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards present for students with interrupted formal education? In G. Valdes, M Castro, & K. Menken (Eds.). Common Core, bilingual and English language learners: A resource for educators (pp. 222-227). Philadelphia: Caslon.

Papers & Presentations at Professional Meetings

Auslander, L. (2025, January 14). Providing high-quality instruction and support for newcomer students [Webinar]. National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. https://ncela.ed.gov/events/2025-01-14-webinar-newcomer-toolkit-providing-high-quality-instruction-and-support-for

Auslander, L. (2024, October 18). Setting up newcomer and SIFE learners for success in secondary classroom mathematics [Conference session]. RISLUS Research Forum 2024, New York, NY, USA.

Auslander, L., & Tejada Lizardo, W. (2024, March 26-30). Setting up newcomer and SIFE learners for success in secondary classroom mathematics [Conference session]. 53rd  Annual National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA.

Auslander, L., & Tejada Lizardo, W. (2024, March 26-27).  Setting up newcomer and SIFE learners for success in secondary classroom mathematics [Conference session]. The National Association of English Learner Program Administrators (NAELPA) Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA.

Auslander, L., Tejada Lizardo, W., & Maslow, G. (2023). Bridges-NYSED math program evaluation report: Abridged version. Bridges to Academic Success. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uQJj3vXWNduj1QDdxjjo3V1l_PjSTF1k/view?usp=sharing

Auslander, L., & Tejada Lizardo, W. (2023, May 23-25). Developing responsive classroom communities for SIFE and newcomer learners [Conference session]. 2023 NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

Auslander, L., & Tejada Lizardo, W. (2023, April 3-4). Accelerating SIFE learning through differentiated instruction and progress monitoring [Conference session]. Virtual TESOL 2023 Convention & English Language Expo.

Auslander, L., & Tejada Lizardo, W. (2023, February 22-25). Supporting SIFE’s growth through differentiated instruction and nuanced progress monitoring [Conference session]. 52nd  Annual National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Conference, Portland, OR, USA.

Auslander, L. (2023, February 21-23). Creating school-wide systems for multilingual learner success [Conference session].  The National Association of English Learner Program Administrators (NAELPA) Annual Conference, Portland, OR, USA.

Auslander, L. (2022, March 23). Creating school-wide systems for multilingual learner success: A roadmap for leaders [Conference session]. TESOL 2022 International Convention and English Language Expo, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.

Auslander, L., & Tejada Lizardo, W. (2022, November 3).  Progress monitoring SIFE & newcomer learners in language & literacy [Conference session]. NYS TESOL 52nd Annual Conference, White Plains, NY, United States.

Birnbaum, J. (2022, February 8). The Bridges Spanish HLA curriculum for SIFE and newcomer ELs: Developing literacy through an exploration of identity [Conference session]. 51st Annual National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Conference, New York, NY,  USA.

Auslander, L. (2021, October 20). Strengthening EL learning opportunities and experiences: Spotlight on services for SLIFE students. Council of Chief State School Officers Virtual Collaborative Meeting (CCSSO).

Auslander, L. and Beiting-Parrish, M. (2021, April). Cultivating a positive culture of bilingualism: Introducing a home language arts curriculum for SIFE [Paper presentation]. The American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Auslander, L. (2020, November).  Integrating social-emotional learning into classroom instruction [Conference session]. New York State Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) Conference.

Auslander, L. & Beiting-Parrish, M. A. (2020, Apr 17 – 21) It takes a village: University-district partnerships that support students with interrupted formal education [Roundtable session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA http://tinyurl.com/wyoelpy (Conference Canceled)

Auslander, L. (2016, September). The role of academic inquiry and culturally responsive instruction in promoting learning for multilingual students. Multilingual and Language Empowerment Symposium: A Response to Inequality, the CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY.

Auslander, L. (2015, May). Building bridges for emergent bilinguals: Bridges to Academic Success [Conference session]. TAC-D Conference, Technical Assistance Center for Disproportionality, New York University, New York, NY.

Auslander, L. (March, 2015). Aligning assessment and instruction to emergent bilingual academic and social needs with culturally responsive RtI [Poster presentation].  CUNY Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Conference 2015: Promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. CUNY Graduate Center, NY.

Curinga, R. (2016, June). A qualitative analysis of professional development for teachers of SIFE with low home language literacy [Paper presentation]. 12th Symposium of Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition (LESLLA), Granada, Spain.

Curinga, R. & Garrison-Fletcher, L. (2016, September). The importance of the home language for academic success in adolescent newcomers. Multilingual and Language Empowerment Symposium: A Response to Inequality, the CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY.

Curinga, R. & Heidrick, I. (2014). Expanding Bridges: A look at the past and future for emergent bilinguals with limited L1 literacy [Conference session]. RISLUS Research Forum, The CUNY Graduate Center, New York

Heidrick, I. & Curinga, R. (2015). Bridges to Academic Success: Supporting low literacy SIFE in language, literacy, and content [Paper presentation]. RISLUS Research Forum, the CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY.

Klein, E. C., McNamara, S. & Smith, A. (2016, September). Bridges to equality. Multilingual and Language Empowerment Symposium: A Response to Inequality, the CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY.

Klein, E. C., Short, D., Curinga, R., McNamara, S. and Smith, A. (2014). Building Bridges for emergent bilinguals: A pre-ninth grade intervention for low literacy newcomers [Paper presentation]. Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Annual Conference, Portland, OR.

Klein, E. C., Short, D., Curinga, R., McNamara, S. & Smith, A. (2014). Building Bridges for emergent bilinguals [Paper presentation]. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference, Portland, OR.

Klein, E. C., Cacicio, S. Hernandez, L, & Curinga, R. (2013). Bridges over changing waters [Conference session]. RISLUS Research Forum, The CUNY Graduate Center, New York.

Klein, E. C., Cacicio, S. Hernandez, L, & Curinga, R. (2013). Bridges over changing waters [Paper presentation].  RISLUS Research Forum, the CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY.

Klein, E. C. (2012). Building Bridges: A language and literacy intervention for developing bilingual competence [Paper presentation]. RISLUS Research Forum, the CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY.

McNamara, S. & Smith, A. (2015). Bridges to Academic Success: Supporting low literacy SIFE: New ELA and FLL curricula.  11th Symposium for Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition (LESLLA) for Adults, St. Augustine, FL.

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